


Heartbeat

by dreamsofspike



Category: Adam Lambert (Musician), American Idol RPF
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-18
Updated: 2013-05-10
Packaged: 2017-11-21 12:06:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/597569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamsofspike/pseuds/dreamsofspike
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A random night at a random club, an unexpected encounter that will change both of them forever...</p><p>WARNINGS: violence, blood, dub-con situations, mind control, dark, supernatural</p><p>NOTE: This fic will include many various pairings/connections/sexual encounters, but the primary romantic pairing is definitely KRADAM! :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. ?

The room was filled with a throbbing techno beat, brightly flashing colored lights, and enough pulsating bodies on the dance floor to raise the room temperature by about twenty degrees. There were two guys behind the bar, shirtless skin gleaming as they moved with hurried efficiency, keeping up with the steady flow of orders aimed in their direction. Dancers in every corner of the room moved to the music, their bodies on tantalizing display in their glittering costumes. All over the room, couples were in various stages of hook-ups, the music and the mood overwhelming enticing. It was sensory overload of the kind that Adam found most entertaining, and just exactly the way he’d intended to spend the first half of his night.

 

And yet… he was bored.

 

He sipped his drink, turning in his seat to survey the crowd one more time, and found it no more interesting than he had the last time he’d looked. He supposed that was the downside to having a favorite club; eventually, you’d manage to work your way through all of the most attractive regulars. Adam sighed, turning back toward his corner table and downing the rest of the drink.

 

So much for the _second_ half of his night.

 

He eyed his empty glass, mentally debating between leaving and finding less familiar, more intriguing hunting grounds, and sticking around until he was drunk enough that the sea of 5’s on the dance floor finally started to look like 8’s and 9’s. It was already after one in the morning; by the time he found another club – where options might not be any better than they were here – he likely wouldn’t have time to make a decent connection before the club closed for the night.

 

And call him old-fashioned, but Adam liked to at least know that he had a little bit of something in common with a guy before he took him home.

 

Finally, Adam opted for the path of least resistance, and took his empty glass back up to the bar. He called out his order to the bartender over the roar of the music and the crowd, before turning to face the crowd again, watching with little interest as faces and bodies, familiar and unfamiliar, moved and mingled on the dance floor, all seeking connections of various levels – but still, no one caught Adam’s eye.

 

Then, through the crowd, he saw a shock of dark hair over the flash of a bright smile. Adam’s gaze zeroed in on someone that he hadn’t seen before, not in this club or any of the others he frequented. The guy was tiny and slim, with a beautiful smile and pretty eyes – precisely Adam’s type – and he was dancing with a tall, dark-haired man who danced as if he owned the floor.

 

So apparently, Adam was _his_ type, too.

 

As Adam watched with rising interest, the taller guy leaned in close to be heard over the music, speaking directly into his dance partner’s ear. The cute brunette drew back, glancing up at the other man with an awkward little laugh – but even across the room, Adam could tell that he wasn’t exactly comfortable with whatever the guy had said. The bigger guy’s hand was resting on the cutie’s hip, and as Adam observed them, he slid it around to his ass. His attempt was met with resistance, as the brunette gracefully slid back out of reach a bit, shaking his head. He kept dancing, but his smile slipped a little, and Adam was surer than ever that he was becoming _really_ uncomfortable.

 

_Figures. One hottie in this entire place… and the biggest douche in the room gets to him first._

 

As the scene before him continued to unfold, however, Adam frowned. Now, the little guy was trying to pull away from the other guy’s arm around his waist, and all traces of amusement had faded from his pretty face. He pushed his hands against the man’s chest, but didn’t seem to be having much success – not surprising, considering the sizable advantage the bigger guy had. The jerk seemed unaffected by his attempts, just grinning and pulling his dance partner closer.

 

Acting on sheer instinct, not stopping to think about what he was doing, Adam slid off the barstool, abandoning his fresh drink on the bar behind him and threading through the crowd until he reached the altercation, completely ignored by the other dancers surrounding them. Adam grabbed the bigger guy’s arm and pushed him back a few steps, edging between him and his chosen prey while he was off balance.

 

“Hey, asshole!” he called out over the din of the music. “Pretty sure he wants you to _back off_!”

 

“Pretty sure it’s none of your fucking business!” the man retorted, stepping toward Adam in challenge.

 

Adam gave him a disgusted up-and-down look, not particularly intimidated. The guy was about his size, and, now that he was up close, obviously very drunk. Not so much of a threat as an annoyance, really. But before Adam could say anything else, the young man behind him stepped forward to his side, glaring at the drunk with his arms crossed over his chest.

 

“He’s right. I _do_ want you to back off,” he snapped, voice raised in order to be heard. “And I told you that about three times already, so just _go away_.”

 

The guy looked between the two of them for a moment before rolling his eyes and spinning around – a motion that almost sent him sprawling onto the floor. “Whatever,” he muttered.

 

Adam turned to face the guy he’d just rescued, who met his gaze with a smile that was warm and friendly, if a bit self-conscious. “You didn’t have to do that,” he said, his voice all but swallowed by the noise, but Adam could read the words on his lips.

 

He blinked and shook his head, gesturing to his ear. “What?”

 

The brunette hesitated a moment before reaching out to touch Adam’s arm, rising up on his toes to get closer to Adam’s ear. “You didn’t have to do that,” he repeated. “I can take care of myself.” He withdrew to meet Adam’s eyes again, adding with a shy smile, “Thanks.”

 

“Don’t thank me,” Adam dismissed the word with a wave, then reached out to take his hand. “Dance with me.”

 

More hesitation, and a sweet blush across his cheeks, and the adorable stranger moved close enough to be heard again – close enough that his clothes brushed Adam’s, that the intoxicating scent of his cologne filled Adam’s senses. Warm breath against his ear nearly made Adam miss the words.

 

“As long as you promise to let me stop when I’m ready.”

 

Adam held up two fingers in a little salute. “Scout’s honor.”

 

“I don’t even know your name,” the guy laughed, rolling his eyes. “But I’m pretty sure you were never a boy scout.”

 

“Caught me.” Adam winked, tugging lightly on the young man’s hand and pulling him out toward the center of the floor. “I’m Adam, by the way.”

 

“Kris,” his dance partner replied, following Adam’s lead as they found a spot and settled into it.

 

Kris was a bit of an awkward dancer, clearly unaccustomed to the style of dancing and music common in clubs such as this one, and Adam found himself wondering what had brought him here tonight. Despite his uncertainty, however, Kris had a good, solid sense of rhythm, and it wasn’t long before he had slid into step with Adam, following his lead.

 

All too aware of the incident that had brought them together, and the fact that Kris would probably be a little gunshy, Adam was cautious about initiating too much contact. They danced for a while, close to each other but not touching, and as they did, Adam watched Kris’s hesitation begin to fall away. A slight misstep drew a flash of a smile to his lips, dark eyes darting up to meet Adam’s and sparkling with self-deprecating laughter, and Adam found himself smiling too, as Kris began to seem more and more at ease with him.

 

Halfway through their third song, when a pair of dancers behind him moved a little too close and pushed Kris into Adam… and Kris _didn’t_ draw back… Adam ventured to place a hand on his waist, under the guise of steadying him. He was prepared to immediately move that hand when Kris’s hand fell over it, but Kris didn’t push him away, just shifted in closer. His full, soft lips parted a little, and he glanced up at Adam for a moment through dark, lowered lashing before closing his eyes, his fingers cool and trembling a little as they intertwined with Adam’s and drew them down to his hip. As they danced, Kris’s other hand fell at the base of Adam’s spine and tugged him in just a little closer.

 

Adam’s pulse quickened at the increased contact, and he edged his hand further back, Kris’s hand still moving with his, but making no effort to stop him. Kris looked up at Adam, opening his eyes, and Adam could see the attraction he felt reflected there, knew that he wasn’t imagining the connection, just because he’d been hoping to make it.

 

As the song came to an end, yielding immediately to the next one, Adam leaned down close to Kris’s ear, his hand entangled with Kris’s and tugging him closer so that his soft suggestion could not be missed.

 

“Want to get out of here?”

 

Kris drew back to meet Adam’s eyes, his own dark gaze wide and a little startled. A swallow visible in his throat, Kris withdrew his hand and took a step back, the attraction he’d displayed moments before giving way to the nervous uncertainty he’d shown when Adam had first viewed him from across the room.

 

“I-I’m sorry,” Kris said, and though Adam couldn’t hear him, he could clearly read the words on his lips. “I – I have to go.”

 

And without any further explanation, Kris spun on his heel and headed for the door.

 

Adam stood there for just a moment, blinking after him in disbelief – before he followed Kris toward the exit. By the time he reached the door, Kris was halfway down the block, walking away quickly into the darkness.

 

“Wait a minute!” Adam called out, and his words were enough to make Kris turn around, just for a moment, before he turned back again and kept walking. Frustrated, Adam shook his head and demanded, “What did I _do_?”

 

“You didn’t _do_ anything. _Yet_ ,” Kris replied, turning again so that he was walking backward for a few moments, but still walking away. “And you’re not going to.”

 

“Wait!” Adam insisted, hurrying his pace in an attempt to catch up. “I _stopped_ that other guy who was giving you a hard time!”

 

“No one asked you to!” Kris yelled over his shoulder, quickening his own footsteps.

 

Fortunately, Adam was much taller and faster. “It was an innocent question!” he insisted, a little breathless as he finally caught up to Kris and fell into step beside him. “If you’d have said no, I’d have been fine with just dancing!”

 

“Right,” Kris scoffed. “It clearly didn’t bother you at all. You know – when I _did_ say no. And _walked away from you_.”

 

“Okay,” Adam conceded with a little sideways nod. “Point taken. But – I thought we were hitting it off. I’m not trying to push you into anything you don’t want. I’m just wondering…” He hesitated, stopping for a moment. “Why _don’t_ you want it?”

 

Kris stopped in his tracks, and when he turned to face Adam, he was laughing silently, shaking his head. “Why won’t you just leave me alone?”

 

Adam slowly advanced toward him, encouraged when Kris didn’t turn away from him, didn’t start walking again. “Because ‘alone’ isn’t exactly something someone like you needs to be, out here, at night. Bad things happen.”

 

As Adam reached him, Kris tensed visibly, but glared up at him in defiance, his fists clenched at his sides, poised and ready, but not striking out – yet.

 

“Do they?” he retorted, sounding a little breathless himself now. “ _Someone like me_? What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

Adam took another step forward, angled slightly so that when Kris backed up, the motion took him not farther down the street, but toward the wall at their side. He smiled a little, continuing his advance.

 

“Just that I’d like you to let me walk you home.”

 

“Oh, so then you’ll know where I live?” Kris shot back, his voice trembling a little as his back hit the wall. “No thanks.”

 

Adam rolled his eyes, his voice rising slightly in irritation. “You know, I’m actually a pretty nice guy. Promise. I’m just trying to help.”

 

As he spoke, Adam noticed that Kris was no longer making eye contact. In fact, his eyes were focused on Adam’s mouth, watching the words as he formed them. The way Kris’s lips parted, the way his eyes seemed to simultaneously darken and flash with desire, made Adam want to kiss him – but he was pretty sure that wouldn’t help the situation.

 

That thought was barely formed when Kris rose up on his toes, wrapping his arms around Adam’s neck and pulling him down into a fierce, almost desperate kiss. Adam froze for just a moment before going with it, responding, pushing Kris up against the wall behind him and deepening the kiss. His mind was racing, trying to keep up with Kris’s abrupt shift, but he didn’t want to question it – not and risk making Kris rethink his decision.

 

Especially not when Kris was doing… _God_ , that thing he was doing with his tongue, and the way his mouth slowly made its way down from Adam’s lips to his throat, teasing and sucking and pulling Adam forward a few steps, except how could they move a few steps when Kris’s back was already to the wall? Adam opened his eyes, feeling more than a little hazy, to see that Kris had pulled him back, off of the main street, and into the alley beside them – out of view from the few passersby that came this way at this time of the night.

 

Adam didn’t mind; he didn’t like the idea of spending the night in jail after getting caught fucking on the street.

 

And… that was starting to look like exactly where this was headed.

 

And him with a nice, cozy bed in his warm, safe apartment at home.

 

“Kris,” Adam gasped out, his efforts at coherent speech hampered by the suction Kris was currently applying to the pressure point at the hollow of his throat. “Wait… shouldn’t we…”

 

“Shhh,” Kris withdrew his mouth just long enough to whisper, before returning his lips to Adam’s neck.

 

And suddenly, a sharp, searing pain drove away Adam’s apprehensive thoughts, and he gasped with shock, hands instinctively rising to push against Kris’s chest, to push him away – but all at once, he didn’t seem to have the strength; Kris was solid, immovable. With surprising ease, Kris spun them around so that this time, it was Adam’s back pressed up against the cold brick wall.

 

“Wait… _stop_ …” Adam gasped out, but the words were a little slurred, and as he struggled to get them out, his hands dropped sluggishly to his sides, as the pain, the cold, the entire world around him seemed to fade away into a gray-white haze.


	2. Chapter 2

“Please… wait…” The young man’s hands on his chest were pitifully weak, and losing force by the moment as Kris pulled the blood from his veins, drinking deeply, savoring the sweet, rich liquid as it coated his throat. “ _Stop_ …”

It was intoxicating – the heat of the struggle he knew he’d win, the sweetness of surrender as Adam’s knees gave out and he slumped down against the alley wall, and Kris went down with him, not wanting to stop drinking in the warm, spicy elixir of this young stranger’s blood.

He’d imagined how Adam would taste, in that first moment when he’d spied him across the dance floor – dancing on his own, with confident abandon, owning the floor as if it was _made_ for him – and decided immediately that this would be the one, his chosen prey for the night. He’d laid his trap carefully, watching the few men Adam chose to dance with that night, and how Adam behaved with them. It had soon become apparent – Adam liked to take the lead, liked to call the shots, to be the strong, chivalrous knight to the pretty young guys he sought out.

Confident, decisive when it came to what he wanted and willing to accept nothing less, more beautiful than anyone else in the room and seemingly well aware of it – Adam was a worthy conquest, a challenge that Kris couldn’t resist.

So Kris had chosen a dance partner he knew would not take no for an answer, placed himself within Adam’s line of sight… and then, simply waited to be rescued.

And now, the beautiful young man who’d played his knight in shining armor, who’d defended him against the lecherous drunk in the hopes of receiving a dance, or maybe more, in thanks for his actions, lay swiftly fading in Kris’s arms, his life’s blood drawn from his veins to sate Kris’s thirst. And yet, the soft moan he let out as Kris withdrew sounded more like pleasure than pain, despite the confused haze in his slurred words, his wide, blinking blue eyes that stared up at Kris in bewilderment.

“Y-your face…”

Kris turned his head away, feeling inexplicably uncomfortable; it was always the same when a human saw his true face, eyes blackened and shadowed, fangs extended – not that any such humans ever lived to complain about it. Kris had thought that he’d eventually get used to the horrified, disgusted stares – but even after 150 years, it still bothered him.

He sighed, moving to rise and leave his discarded meal in the alley to expire – but Adam’s weak, trembling hand reached out, touching his face, and he looked down sharply to see that there was wonder mingled with the confusion in Adam’s face.

“Y-you’re so… _beautiful_ …”

Kris froze, staring down at the young man in disbelief. Adam’s fingers barely brushed his cheek before falling weakly to his side, his breath shallow and fading swiftly – and yet he kept staring up at Kris, wide-eyed, drinking him in with a strange sort of fascination that seemed stronger than his fear, than the pain Kris had inflicted. His head tilted slightly, and his words were slurred and slow, more intrigued than fearful.

“Are you… going to kill me now?”

Adam was staring up at Kris with wide, wondering eyes, and Kris found that he couldn’t stop staring back. Despite his obvious weakness and pain, Adam didn’t really sound frightened, more… curious and questioning, as if his own impending death didn’t matter nearly so much as this new and unique experience he was having.

_It’s the blood loss,_ Kris told himself. _He’s out of his head. Pretty soon he’ll be nothing at all. Get up and move on._

But somehow – Kris couldn’t.

And he realized all at once that the answer to Adam’s question wasn’t at all what he’d expected or planned it to be. Kris frowned slightly, surprise in his voice as he replied at last.

“No… no, I – I’m not.”

He’d planned on making a swift meal of this young man and leaving him to die in this alley, discarded and forgotten like so many others, and he’d taken enough blood that he could walk away now, and that was certainly what would happen. But – it didn’t _have_ to happen. Kris acted before he could think himself out of it, drawing his fangs across his own wrist and slicing it open, then holding it to Adam’s lips.

“Drink,” he commanded quietly.

He expected resistance, expected Adam to draw away in disgust – but Adam held his gaze with hazy blue eyes and obediently complied, raising a trembling hand to hold Kris’s wrist to his mouth and sucking weakly against the wound. After a few moments, his grip on Kris’s wrist became stronger, and he rose up a little on his free hand, sucking harder.

Convinced that his actions had served their purpose, Kris withdrew easily from Adam’s grip, pressing his uninjured hand over the wound firmly to stop the bleeding. He sighed, already regretting his decision.  An abandoned body in an alley posed no risk of exposing his secret; now, he would have to make sure that _Adam_ didn’t pose such a risk, either. The young man would be giddy and energetic, if a bit disoriented and confused, by the foreign, powerful blood that would momentarily be coursing through his veins – a bit like being completely, sloppy drunk, without the nasty hangover the following morning – and he would be utterly incapable of getting himself home safely.

He would _not_ be utterly incapable of running his mouth to anyone and everyone the following day.

_Kris, what are you doing? What have you_ done _? You should just… end this now, and go home…_

_Except, it’s too late now, isn’t it? Your blood is in his veins. He dies now… and you’re stuck with him_ forever _. This was supposed to be nothing more than a quick meal. Nice job, idiot._

“Y-you’re a… a vampire… right?” Adam guessed, a silly, happy smile on his face. “’Cause you sucked my blood and the… the fangs, and…”

“Come on,” Kris said softly, ignoring Adam’s words as he rose to his feet and pulled Adam up with him by the hand. “We need to find a cab and get you home.”

“I’m right,” Adam crowed, grinning. “I know I am. You’re a real, live…”

“Yes, yes, okay, you’re right,” Kris hissed, glancing around to see if there was anyone else on the street – and thankfully, there was not. “Let’s not announce it to the entire city, all right?”

“Right… right…” Adam glanced around too, but a lot more obviously than Kris had done. “’Cause that would be… bad. To… get caught being a…” He frowned, twirling a finger in the air as if it would help him think of the word he’d been all too ready to yell out only moments earlier. “… you know…”

“Yes, that would be bad. Adam, do you remember your address?”

Adam let out a little snort of laughter, rolling his eyes. “Of course I do.”

“Good,” Kris said, a bit distractedly, as he scanned up and down the street for any sign of a cab. There were usually a fair number that came this way this time of the night, ready to collect their fares from those too drunk to drive home, and yet still responsible enough to care. As one headed in their direction, he raised a hand in a discreet little wave to get the cabbie’s attention. “I’m going to see that you get home safely…”

“That’s very chivarous… chivalous… that’s… you’re very… you’re… a gentleman,” Adam concluded at last with a pleased, sloppy smile at his eventual success.

“Thank you,” Kris replied, his voice heavy and tired as he took Adam gently by the arms and guided him into the cab that had just pulled up in front of them, then scooted in beside him. “What’s your address, Adam?”

Adam gave the cabbie his address, to Kris’s relief without any confusion, and they started off toward Adam’s house. Adam was blessedly quiet for a little while, staring out the window at the passing surroundings as if he’d never seen them before, and Kris started to relax.

_Just get him home… and then look into his eyes and compel him to forget he ever met you tonight… to forget what happened to his neck… to forget all of it…_

_… and then_ you _can go home and forget all of it. Which you could have done much more easily if you’d simply left him in that alley. What were you thinking, Kris? This is so ridiculously careless and of you… and_ why _? Because an attractive guy told you you’re pretty? This is… a mess, and now you’re in it._

Adam abruptly turned to look at Kris again, speculative. “Am I going to turn into a vampire now?”

Kris forced a startled laugh, glancing anxiously at the cabbie in the mirror, and sliding to the side of the car, as close to the side window as he could, hoping that if he was out of the range of sight of the mirror, the driver wouldn’t notice that he didn’t cast a reflection.

“Vampire? What are you talking about?”

“You know, since you sucked my neck. And then I sucked your… your…” Adam frowned, once again forgetting the most basic of words, only this time at the most inconvenient moment possible. “… hand?”

The cabbie was frowning suspiciously at them now, but Kris was fairly certain his suspicion and disapproval was the run of the mill sort; Adam’s apparent state of drunkenness didn’t exactly lend credibility to his ramblings about vampires.

“That’s… not exactly how it works, Adam,” Kris laughed, his tone one of amusement for the cabbie’s benefit. “Just relax, okay? You’ll be home soon and in your nice, warm bed.”

“Okay.” Adam nodded agreeably, reaching out across the seat to take Kris’s hand and then sliding closer to him, into the middle of the seat. His voice was low and suggestive, a comically intense attempt at seduction, as he asked, “Will you be in it with me?”

The cabbie rolled his eyes in the mirror with a sneer of disgust, and Kris abruptly no longer cared about his opinion. A fortunate side effect of the cabbie’s obvious homophobia, however, was his apparent decision to ignore them, focusing his attention on the course ahead of him and no longer studying them – or Adam, more specifically – in the rearview mirror.

“No, Adam,” Kris replied, taking Adam’s hand and placing it firmly back on Adam’s own knee. “That’s not what you need right now. What you _need_ is to sleep it off.”

“Right.” Adam frowned, shaking his head a little as he looked out the window again. “Sleep _what_ off, though? I only had, like a drink and a half.” He turned his gaze back to Kris, eyes lighting up with understanding. “It’s you, isn’t it?” he concluded. “I’m drunk on _you_ right now, aren’t I?”

Kris just looked away, wishing again that he’d stuck to the original plan he’d had in mind for his evening. Even in his loopy, mentally impaired condition, Adam was still putting the pieces together uncomfortably quickly. The sooner Kris could get him to someplace quiet and safe and make him forget all of this, the better.

When they reached the address Adam had given the cabbie, Kris got out and helped Adam to his feet, slinging Adam’s arm across his shoulders and guiding him up the walk to the front door.

“Do you have your keys?” Kris asked quietly. “Do you… have a roommate, or… partner, or…”

“Roommate,” Adam replied. “But… we used to be partners. Or… we used to fuck, if you ask him. Not _partners_ …” He snorted rudely, rolling his eyes in an over-dramatic fashion that rolled his entire head backwards. That gesture alone would have sent him toppling to the ground, had Kris not been holding him up. “You’re really strong. Makes sense. Vampires are… really strong, right? But you’re such a _little_ vampire…” Adam grinned as Kris propped him up against the side of his building, reaching into Adam’s pocket to look for keys. “And cute. The cutest little vampire ever…”

“Gee, thanks,” Kris drawled, locating a set of keys in Adam’s pocket and withdrawing it, frowning as he looked for the right one. “That’s just what every vampire wants to hear.”

“But you _are_ ,” Adam insisted, lurching forward away from the wall and stumbling into Kris again, his hands finding Kris’s waist and pulling him in close. “You’re… adorable, and hot, and sexy, and a vampire, and I _like_ you, Kris…”

“You don’t _like_ me,” Kris argued, taking Adam’s wrists and pulling his hands away, then holding him there and meeting his eyes. “You don’t _know_ me – and you don’t want to. I could have killed you tonight…”

“But you didn’t,” Adam pointed out, eyes wide and serious. “I like you,” he repeated simply.

“If that’s all it takes,” Kris observed, “then you’ve clearly been setting your standards very low. Maybe I’d have been doing you a _favor_ by putting you out of your misery…”’

Kris held onto one of Adam’s wrists, keeping him back a little as he unlocked the door with his other hand. Then, he turned back to face Adam again, holding both of his hands in his.

“Adam, look at me,” he instructed quietly. “Look into my eyes.”

Adam obeyed, his gaze open and earnest and questioning, and Kris suddenly remembered why he’d decided to spare this young man’s life in the first place. He felt an unexpected pang of some wistful emotion – almost like _loss_ , at what he was about to do. But that was silly, because Adam wasn’t his, wasn’t _anything_ to him, and all he could do now was set right his mistake and move on.

Kris focused all of his energy on the connection between himself and Adam, pouring every ounce of mental influence he possessed into the electric gaze locked between them, and spoke in soft, measured words.

“We met at the club. You rescued me from some douche who thought he was God’s gift, and didn’t know how to take no for an answer. We danced a little, had some fun, but you weren’t particularly interested. You danced with a couple of other guys, and I got in a cab and left. You didn’t see me after that.”

Adam stared at him blankly, nodding slowly. Kris reached out to brush gentle fingertips over the pair of red pinprick wounds on Adam’s throat, swallowing hard when Adam didn’t flinch, didn’t pull away, but rather arched his neck to the side a little as if to give Kris better access, drawing in a sharp, shaky little breath that sounded far more like pleasure than pain. With an effort Kris managed to focus again, steadying his voice as he continued.

“You won’t remember how you got these. You _will_ remember that they weren’t there when we said good night. When I leave here, you won’t remember seeing me at all after we danced at the club. You’ll simply go inside, go to your bed, and go to sleep.”

Adam nodded – then frowned, shaking his head a little. His voice was soft and sad as he replied, “But… I _want_ to remember.”

Kris froze. His gaze faltered for a moment, but when Adam started to move toward him again, he quickly focused, gripping Adam’s forearms and holding him back and meeting his eyes again intently.

“No, you don’t,” he stated firmly. “You won’t remember me as anything more than another random guy at the club you thought was cute, and then didn’t think of again the moment he walked out the door. I’m _nothing_ to you – nothing more than a passing interest that didn’t last more than a few minutes. You’ll go on and live your life from this moment – and you’ll never think of me again.”

Adam was still frowning slightly, as if his very subconscious was resistant to the idea Kris was implanting in his mind – but he nodded slowly, reluctantly. Relieved, Kris sighed, looking away for a moment.

“Good… good.”

He looked back up into Adam’s eyes, searching, wondering. There was something about this young man, something more than Kris was used to finding in the random hook-ups he usually used to find his meals.

As unsettling and confusing as it was, suddenly, Kris wasn’t sure _he_ wanted Adam to forget, either.

Impulsively, not sure why he was doing it but sure that it was probably a mistake, Kris leaned in, one strong hand at the back of Adam’s neck drawing him close as Kris kissed him – slowly, deeply, savoring the sensation of the moment that he knew he had to end, before it could take him any farther down this road of endless errors he’d made tonight.

Kris withdrew at last, meeting Adam’s eyes for a long moment before whispering, “Goodbye, Adam.”

With those words, he reluctantly let go, and left Adam there on his front porch, staring after him sadly, a single whispered word echoing in Kris’s ears as he left.

“ _Goodbye_.”


	3. Chapter 3

It was nearly dawn by the time Kris reached the iron gate set into the stone wall that surrounded his home, high in the hills of Sherman Oaks. He approached the gate on foot, nodding in greeting to the guard who opened it for him. He hadn’t driven a car to the club that night, or taken a cab once he’d dropped Adam off at his door; he had no need of one, and could in all reality travel more quickly under his own power.  

 

It wasn’t want of speed or time that had Kris arriving home just short of the wrong side of daybreak.

 

“Good morning, master.” The young vampire at the gate greeted him, smiling and hurrying and obviously nervous, as he opened the gate. “Good hunting tonight?”

 

“Good enough, Jason,” Kris replied, granting the boy a tired smile. “And _please_ – it’s just Kris.”

 

Jason was the newest member of Kris’s little family – a fledgling vampire turned just a few weeks earlier in a rather impulsive decision that Kris was certain the boy’s sire would come to regret. Jason was enthusiastic and eager to please, but lacked the confidence and the intelligence it would take to survive for long in the dangerous world of which he was now a part; Kris was fairly certain it was only a matter of time before the young vampire ended up with a stake through his heart, nothing more than dust in the wind.

 

But he was sweet, and funny, and eager to please, and Allison always _had_ been soft at heart, just as she’d been when she was human; her sweetness and generosity hadn’t changed when Kris had turned her into a vampire. No doubt she’d looked into Jason’s pleading, trusting eyes and found herself unable to simply end his life.

 

Kris could relate.

 

But it didn’t matter that Allison had chosen not to kill Jason, not really, Kris told himself. No, someone else would do that someday, when Jason proved incapable of living up to the level of cruelty and ruthlessness possessed by most of their kind. Allison had done no one any favors by sparing the boy’s life. But now that she’d turned him, Jason was _family_ , and deserved the protection that went along with that role, however futile such protection might ultimately prove to be.

 

“Yes, of course. Just Kris, you told me that already, of course, sir – I mean…”

 

Kris was too exhausted, too distracted, to wait for Jason’s rambling corrections. He walked past the boy and toward the house, as Jason closed the gate, calling after him, “Rest well!”

 

Kris sighed as he entered the spacious, shadowed hall beyond his front door, grateful not to find any other members of his family there to greet him. He didn’t really feel like dealing with anyone at the moment – didn’t feel like doing anything but retreating to the peaceful solitude of his own bedroom and waiting for darkness.

 

 _Rest. Right. Not likely after_ this _night._

 

He started toward the shadowed stairs, and the warm, quiet comfort that lay beyond them – then stopped at the door to his left, just before he reached them. He hesitated, casting a longing glance up the stairs – but then sighed, and approached the door, knocking quietly. A muffled voice responded immediately from the other side.

 

“Come in.”

 

Kris opened the door and stepped into the room that served as both library and main office for the household, closing the door behind him. The young man behind the desk looked up, curious expression fading into a warm smile when he saw Kris standing there.

 

“Morning, Kris. Thought you weren’t going to make it for a minute there.”

 

“Morning, Matt.” Kris smirked. “I _always_ make it.”

 

He didn’t think it was necessary to mention that this time, he almost hadn’t. This time, he’d found himself realizing less than thirty minutes before dawn that he was still an alarming distance from home. This time, he’d lingered outside of a duplex across town, watching a tragically beautiful, sad young man on his front porch as he stared out into the darkness, a confused frown on his face, as if he wasn’t quite sure who or what he was looking for. Even when Adam had finally gone inside, still looking a little lost, Kris had remained for a while, regretting his decision to wipe the memories of the night from the young man’s mind – and then wondering with irritation why he was regretting it.

 

Even now, he couldn’t shake the vivid mental image of Adam’s face, beautiful blue eyes sad and longing as Kris had turned and walked away from him.

 

“Everyone else make it in all right?”

 

As he spoke, Kris sank down into the chair across from the large, intimidating oak desk behind which Matt was seated, an open ledger in front of him with a pen resting on its half-filled pages. Matt served as a household manager for Kris’s family, making sure that everyone had whatever they needed whenever they needed it, that everyone was safely accounted for every morning, and that no family member drew too much unpleasant attention toward the sprawling estate that had served as their home for nearly a decade now. He made sure that any matters of public record, such as finances and identification, appeared ordinary and would not arouse suspicions under inspection by any public officials.

 

As one of the oldest and most powerful vampire clans in the country, Kris’s family could typically hold their own when it came to any sort of physical conflict; Kris trusted Matt to make sure they were protected from more subtle, unexpected threats, like public exposure.

 

“Everyone’s in,” Matt replied with a satisfied nod. “Mike barely got in half an hour ago, but that’s nothing new.”

 

Kris let out a quiet huff of laughter that he didn’t have the energy to voice, shaking his head. “One of these mornings…”

 

“That’s what I keep telling him. But at least he made it.”

 

“All right.” Kris stood up again with a heavy sigh. “I’m beat. I’ll leave you to it, and head on up to bed. Let me know if you need me.”

 

Matt nodded, picking up his pen and returning to his work, as Kris opened the door and trudged wearily up the stairs.

 

The bedside lamp was on, but the overhead lights were off, leaving the bedroom dimly lit, and sleep all the more enticing to Kris as he _finally_ , gratefully closed the door behind him. The pretty blonde seated at the vanity table across from the bed was running a brush through her hair and smiling a little to herself as she looked into an empty mirror that couldn’t reflect her – out of habit, Kris suspected, more than anything. She looked up at Kris with a warm, sleepy smile as he approached.

 

“Hey,” she said softly, smile fading as she studied him, turning slightly in her seat so that her gaze could follow Kris as he made his way to the bed and wearily sat down. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

 

Kris found himself unexpectedly laughing, shaking his head and closing his eyes as he lay back across the bed. He hadn’t spoken yet – wasn’t sure exactly how to answer that question – when he felt the slight pressure of the mattress depressing beside him as she climbed onto it, a moment before her soft, cool arm snaked across his chest.

 

Kris sighed, instinctively shifting closer to her and reaching out a hand to cover hers, fingers intertwining with the ease of long familiarity. “You could say that,” he sighed at last, tired and defeated.

 

“What is it?” she asked again. “Kris… _what_?”

 

“There was… this guy. At the club.”

 

“Well, I hope so. That’s why you went, wasn’t it?”

 

“Yeah, but… this guy was _different_.” Kris looked up, meeting her troubled frown of confusion. “He was… gorgeous, for one thing, and… and sweet, and… and when I bit him… when he realized what I was, and what I was doing to him, he… he wasn’t even _scared_. He just… looked up at me like I was… an angel or something, instead of the demon draining his life away, and… he said I was… _beautiful_. He… he was… _fascinated_ , not terrified like he should have been, and… I don’t know. I just… he was… _special_.”

 

She nodded, sympathetic. “Yeah. I’ve had a kill or two like that, Kris. I know it’s hard. But… you can’t let yourself see them as equals, sweetheart. It’s just… biology. We feed to survive.” She paused, holding his gaze intently as she added, “We kill… to maintain our cover. To protect our family. Once he’s seen you… once he knows… you had no choice, sweetie. You _had_ to kill him. You can’t let it get to you, Kris. The boy is dead now, and nothing can change that, so there’s no good that can come of dwelling on it…”

 

Kris swallowed hard, looking away and closing his eyes again. The soft, soothing hand playing through his loose, dark hair went still, and Kris braced himself

 

“Kris…” Her voice was cautious, measured. “The boy… _is_ dead. Isn’t he?”

 

“Actually…”

 

She dropped her head to the mattress with a low groan. “ _Kris_ …”

 

“I compelled him to forget me,” Kris assured her. “I just… I _couldn’t_. So… I got him into a cab and took him home, and then I changed his memories so that he’d think we just danced and that was the last he saw of me, and he won’t remember how he got the bite marks, and… there’s nothing to worry about. He won’t remember anything, and I’ll never see him again, and… and everything’s okay.”

 

She frowned, wary and uncertain. “Kris, you have to be careful. You can’t be leaving survivors left and right. He might not question the bite marks on his neck, but that doesn’t mean that _someone_ won’t. You can’t take chances like that.”

“You make it sound like I do this all the time,” Kris protested, sitting up on one arm and facing her with a frown. “This is the first time…”

 

“That’s what worries me,” she countered with a single raised brow. Her voice was soft, patient but warning as she continued. “In spite of everything you’ve seen and done, Kris… you’ve kept your heart. You still _feel_ , and… remember what it was to be… to be like _them_ , and… and I knew that you would. It’s why I… why I love you. But…” She hesitated, a rueful grimace twisting her mouth before she concluded, “I just don’t want to see it get us all killed.”

 

“ _Katy_.” Kris sat up, raising a hand to run gently through her hair, meeting her gaze fully and willing her to see the truth in his eyes. “I would _never_ do _anything_ to endanger this family. You _know_ that.”

 

“I know you wouldn’t,” she acknowledged reluctantly. “Not… not deliberately.”

 

“It’s going to be all right. It’s just one boy, Katy. And he won’t remember anything. I made sure of it. I promise, Katy… there’s _nothing_ to worry about.”

 

******************************************************

 

When Adam woke up the following morning, his head felt fuzzy, his memories of the night before a distant haze that spoke of far too much to drink the night before **.** The fact that he was sleeping on his kitchen floor, head resting in one arm on a chair, the rest of his body curled up under the table – yeah, that was another clue.

 

His roommate’s giggle of amusement as he walked into the kitchen, shoes clicking loudly on the tile, was far more obnoxious than Adam usually found it. In fact, as Brad set about putting on a pot of coffee and piling fruit and ice and soy milk into the blender for his morning smoothie, Adam found that every sound seemed amplified, an annoying intrusion that only made it more difficult to focus his thoughts and attempt to recall the night before.

 

“So you apparently had quite a night, huh?” Brad observed.

 

“I guess so.” Adam groaned as he pulled himself up off the floor and flopped down into the chair that had served as his makeshift pillow. “I – don’t really remember.”

 

Brad laughed. “Overdo it a little?”

 

Adam frowned, pieces of the night before gradually becoming clearer in his memory. “Actually, I don’t think so. I mean – I only remember having like, one drink, and there wasn’t really anyone interesting there, and I remember – deciding to just come home, but… for some reason…”

 

A shock of dark hair, soft brown eyes that seemed to see right through him, flashed through Adam’s memory for just a moment, before vanishing like an evaporating mist.

 

“I guess… maybe there _was_ someone? But… I think he left. I’m… not sure. I don’t think I _wanted_ him to go, but I don’t think anything happened. We danced, but… that’s it, and… next thing I remember, I was waking up here, and…”

 

Adam turned his head, glancing instinctively toward the door – and immediately winced as a sharp pain shot through his neck. “ _Ow_!” he hissed, his right hand rising to press against the source of the pain, and alarmingly, finding what felt like some sort of scab there. “What the _fuck_?”

 

Brad frowned, setting his glass down on the table and peering over Adam’s shoulder before drawing in a sympathetic hiss. “Nothing happened, huh? Sure looks like you had some fun with _somebody_ – or somebody had some fun with _you_.”

 

“Mirror?” Adam requested, voice shaking a little with alarm at Brad’s wide, worried gaze.

 

Brad disappeared in the direction of the bathroom, returning after a moment and handing Adam the small mirror they kept in the bathroom drawer. Adam peered at the pair of small red marks on his neck, frowning as an uneasy feeling began to settle in the pit of his stomach.

 

“I don’t remember.” He looked up at Brad, shaking his head a little. “Why don’t I remember?”

 

“You said you didn’t drink much? Are you _sure_?” Brad’s amusement had faded into genuine concern.

 

“Pretty sure,” Adam confirmed, nodding. “And… I just remember… this one guy. I don’t know. It’s weird…”

 

“It’s creepy, is what it is,” Brad declared. “Adam… that one drink you had… how carefully did you watch it?”

 

Adam’s frown deepened. “You don’t think…”

 

“I _do_ think, actually.” Brad’s tone was dark and heavy with worry. “Adam, we need to get you to a doctor and get you checked out.”

 

“I don’t think… I don’t think anything _happened_ …”

 

“Well, _something_ happened.” Brad waved a hand in the general direction of Adam’s neck, giving him a dubious look. “Whoever did… whatever that is to you, we have no way of knowing what _else_ they might have done. We need to be sure,” Brad insisted, getting up and reaching for his phone on the counter. “If someone did something to you, put something in your drink, we need to find out what it was and make sure you’re okay… and make sure that’s _all_ they did.”

 

Adam wanted to protest again, but was beginning to think that Brad might be right. But when he thought about the sweet face of the little brunette he’d danced with, those huge dark eyes that had looked up at him with such innocence and trust, Adam couldn’t imagine him doing anything to hurt him.

 

He could imagine a lot of _other_ things though, things he didn’t think he’d have said no to.

 

It made him sick, though, to think that he might not have been given a choice.

 

“Hey, what if I don’t _want_ to go to the doctor?” Adam protested weakly as Brad waited on hold. “Bossy. No means no, remember?”

 

“You didn’t say no,” Brad pointed out, glaring at Adam as he held his phone to his ear. “And that is not even remotely fucking funny right now, Adam.”

 

Adam’s weak smile faded away uncomfortably; despite his attempts at levity, he had to agree.

 

“Yeah, this is Brad Bell. I need to make an appointment for my friend to come in this morning, please. How early can you get us in?”


	4. Chapter 4

“Very strange. Not sure I’ve ever seen a case quite like this.”

 

Adam stared dubiously up at the woman who was standing in front of him in a white lab coat, frowning at the twin puncture wounds on his neck. “Yeah,” he replied flatly. “That’s _exactly_ what you want to hear your doctor tell you.”

 

She laughed, giving him an apologetic grimace. “Well, I didn’t say it was a particularly _alarming_ case,” she clarified. “I don’t see any signs of any other injuries besides this one, and there are no signs of assault of any kind. Your reflexes and vitals are all within a normal, healthy range. Your blood test showed a case of moderate anemia, but that’s nothing a good solid meal high in protein won’t fix – and no signs that you’ve been drugged. So either you weren’t, or whatever you were given has already worn off and left no effects. All in all, there doesn’t appear to be much of a reason to worry.”

 

“See?” Adam cast a pointed look in the direction of Brad, who was seated in the corner and quietly observing – except when he was _loudly_ observing.

 

“ _See_ what?” he retorted with a derisive huff. “You were pretty freaked out not thirty minutes ago, so don’t act like I fucking _dragged_ you here…”

 

“You _did_ fucking drag me here!” Adam insisted. “And turns out it was for nothing…”

 

“Well, I wouldn’t call a vampire bite nothing,” the doctor interrupted.

 

“Huh?” Adam looked up at her, startled, but quickly understood when he saw the teasing smile on her lips.

 

“Well how else would you explain it?” She shrugged. “Unless someone stabbed you in the neck with a barbeque fork.”

 

“Which is… weirdly random and highly unlikely,” Brad pointed out, rather unnecessarily, Adam thought.

 

“Yeah,” the doctor agreed with a conspiratorial wink. “Vampire bites are _far_ more common.”

 

“Maybe whoever did it was _trying_ to make it look like a vampire bite,” Brad suggested. “Some kind of bizarre prank?”

 

“So someone stabbed me in the neck with a fork so I’d think it was a vampire bite?” Adam raised a skeptical brow. “That’s pretty far-fetched for a prank on a stranger.”

 

“Also dangerously close to murder if they miss,” the doctor pointed out. “I wish I could offer you more of an explanation, but all I can do is tell you that you seem to be in good health, so whatever happened – it looks like you’ll be okay. Come back next week, though, and let me check how your wound is healing up, okay?”

 

“Okay,” Adam agreed, though he had little intention of returning.

 

This whole thing was just too weird. The visit to the doctor had revealed next to nothing about what had actually happened to him – and Adam was beginning to think that there was simply no way to find out. And all the while, his mind was filled with strange, fractured bits of sense memory – thick, dark hair that was soft between his fingers… dark eyes that glowed with a strange light… but sometimes that glow flickered into total darkness, and when Adam tried to remember the specific facial features of the man in his memory, they faded into an indistinguishable blur.

 

Whoever the man was, Adam was beginning to think that he might be able to fill in some of the blanks from the night before, give Adam some idea of what had happened to him.

 

If only he had even the first clue how to find him again.

 

“So, what now?” Brad asked as they reached the sidewalk outside the doctor’s office. “You want to go home and rest? Or should we go get that good meal the doctor was talking about?”

 

Adam considered for a moment before responding. “I think I want to go home and take a nap.”

 

“Good idea.” Brad nodded. “You’ve had a long night. Best thing for you is some rest.”

 

“Especially if I’m going to go out again tonight,” Adam informed him.

 

“If you’re – wait, _what_?”

 

Brad had stopped walking behind Adam, but Adam kept going, well aware that once he got his dramatic gesture out of the way, Brad would be hurrying to catch up with him soon enough.

 

“ _Adam_!” Brad sounded incredulous – and then, Adam smiled at the sound of his hurried footsteps, rushing to match his stride with Adam’s again. “What the _fuck_. You just got drugged and who knows what else last night, and you want to go out and, what? Since you can’t remember, you want to see if you can get it to happen _again_?”

 

Adam wasn’t really sure _why_ he wanted to go out again tonight so badly, but now that he heard it out loud, Brad’s assessment sounded frighteningly close to accurate. Of course he didn’t want it to happen again – not that he had the first clue what “it” even was. But the face of the stranger in his mind, almost fully formed and yet just barely blurred beyond recognition, frustrated him, and Adam had to admit that some small part of him might be hoping for nothing more than to just run into the young man again, and possibly find some answers to his questions.

 

Of course, he couldn’t exactly tell Brad that – not without expecting to hear Brad’s forcefully discouraging opinions about it for the rest of the day, and probably finding himself under whatever form of house arrest Brad thought he could pull off for that night.

 

“I just need to get my mind off it,” Adam explained with a little shrug, hands jammed into the pockets of his jeans, as Brad caught up to him. “Forget all about this little traumatic experience through the liberal application of a fuckload of alcohol. And dancing. But especially alcohol.”

 

“Fine,” Brad sighed. “That actually doesn’t sound like a terrible plan.”

 

“I’d be shocked if you thought it did.”

 

Ignoring Adam’s comment, Brad rushed ahead a little to stop directly in Adam’s path, ensuring his full attention at least for a couple of moments as he met his gaze with huge, serious eyes that had always managed to draw Adam’s focus – even when he would have been better off ignoring them.

 

“But if you’re going out tonight, I’m going with you. No one’s drugging you and dragging you off somewhere against your will on _my_ watch.”

 

****************************************************

 

“I’m not so sure this was the best idea.”

 

Kris looked up at Katy over the rim of the drink he’d been nursing for the past thirty minutes with wide, innocent eyes. “What?”

 

“Coming out tonight. It’s not as if you really need to – not after last night, not for a few nights at least. And it might have been wiser just to lay low for a while and wait to see if we hear anything about… any unusual events that might have taken place last night… before coming out again,” Katy explained – but then she rolled her eyes, waving a dismissive hand and sipping from her own drink before going on. “But you already know how I feel about it. And still you insist…”

 

Kris slid closer to her in the booth they shared, his skillful fingers in the soft hair at the back of her neck silencing her grumbling protest and instead causing her to close her eyes and roll her head back into the touch. Kris smiled with satisfaction; after more than seventy years together, he knew how to read her – and he knew how to _play_ her, if need be. And it was a rather harmless play, anyway; he just didn’t want to hear any more of her warnings about his mistake of the previous night.

 

“It’ll be fine,” he assured her, his voice hushed and low, not even a whisper in the tumult of noise that filled the room, but he knew that she could still hear him. “I just need… a fresh kill…”

 

“Mmm,” Katy agreed, nodding, not opening her eyes as she turned sideways and slid a hand down to rest on Kris’s waist.

 

“To help me forget,” Kris continued, pressing kisses against her jaw, and then slowly down her neck, between his words. “The taste… the feel… to help me to… move on…”

 

Katy lowered her mouth abruptly to meet his, stopping his words and swallowing them up in a deep kiss, her hand rising to rest against his face, guiding the kiss, before she finally, slowly drew away to meet his eyes. The knowing, almost reproachful smile on her pretty, full lips told Kris that his attempt at distraction hadn’t been quite as successful as he’d hoped, even before she spoke.

 

“And yet,” she said softly, “here you sit with me.”

 

Kris looked away, drawing back slightly with a sullen sigh.

 

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe something fresh and hot to slake your thirst might rid you of the memory of the boy from last night,” Katy conceded with a little shrug. “But you’re not going to find him here. If what you really want is to forget, then… why don’t you get out there?”

 

“What you really mean to say is, I’m cramping your style.” Kris couldn’t help the little smirk that rose to his lips when she shrugged slightly in admission.

 

“Some of us didn’t have an amazing, life-altering feed to brag about last night,” she pointed out teasingly. “I can’t say I’d mind finding some pretty young morsel to take home tonight.”

 

“I get it,” Kris sighed. “Fine. I’ll get out of your way.”

 

“You’re _never_ in my way, love,” Katy replied, reaching out to catch Kris’s hand as he stood up, waiting until he looked back to reluctantly meet her gaze before going on, her smile fading a little with concern. “It’s just… are you really here to forget? Because ‘forgetting’ seems to look a lot like…”

 

“Adam…”

 

Katy frowned. “Well, that’s a slightly awkward way of wording it, but…”

 

“No.” Kris stared across the dance floor, a slow swallow in his throat, his eyes wide with disbelief. “ _Adam_. Is… _here_.”

 

Katy followed his gaze across the floor, eyes lighting on a striking figure who was currently dancing with a tiny brunet. As she watched, Adam laughed, and his face lit up, blue eyes sparkling with mirth, his body moving as he danced with abandon.

 

“I can see the appeal,” she remarked as Kris sank back down into the booth beside her.

 

“We have to go,” Kris muttered, shaking his head. “I can’t believe this. Out of all the clubs in this town…”

 

“Wait.” Katy glanced between Kris, and the young man on the dance floor, still completely oblivious to their presence. “Maybe we shouldn’t…”

 

“Are you kidding?” Kris retorted unhappily. “He’ll see us. He _does_ remember I _exist_ , even if he can’t remember the context of our meeting very clearly, and there could be questions, and this could get _really_ freaking complicated really fast, and…”

 

“And it could also get really _simple_ , really fast, Kris.” Katy smiled.

 

“What?” Kris shook his head a little, confused.

 

“Think about it, Kris.” Katy’s voice was soft, leading, as she looked out across the floor toward Adam. “This is your opportunity. You let him go last night, but here he is again… practically fallen right into your lap…”

 

Kris swallowed hard, as understanding began to slowly dawn… along with a sick, uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. It made sense. _Perfect_ sense, actually. A simple solution to the mistake he’d made the night before – and yet, the idea was not one he wanted to consider. The idea of leading an unsuspecting Adam off to some private corner somewhere and… and _finishing the job,_ as if he didn’t matter, as if he was just some random feed to be used and tossed aside…

 

 _But… isn’t that_ exactly _what he is? What’s the problem with that? She’s right… you need to just take him… one more time… go somewhere quiet and private and… taste that sweet, rich blood one more time… enjoy it, savor it… drink it down, this time, until it’s_ gone _. Finish it. Get him out of your system, once and for all, and_ end _this._

Except… deep down, some part of Kris didn’t really want to _end_ Adam. He couldn’t explain it; he’d done it so many times before, with so many different guys – and yet this time, it just didn’t… _feel_ right.

 

“Kris – right?”

 

Kris looked up, startled, to see Adam standing right beside him, a hesitant smile on his lips.

 

“That’s your name, right?”

 

Kris glanced toward Katy, whose smile was serene and secretive, if a little bored, as she returned her attention to her drink.

 

“Right,” Kris replied, shaking his head a little as if to shake away his distraction. “Oh, right. Last night.”

 

“Yeah. _Crazy_ night for me,” Adam said, rotating a finger near his temple and rolling his eyes before meeting Kris’s gaze with a sly, tempting grin. “Wanna do it again?”


	5. Chapter 5

This strange, beautiful, infuriating man was going to make Kris’s brain explode.

 

 _All I wanted was to forget about him, to find a distraction to take my mind off him… and he’s_ here. _And not only here, but standing right in front of me,_ smiling _like that, with those_ eyes _, and practically_ begging _me to take him somewhere dark and secluded, beyond the reach of help or hearing, and… and that’s what I_ should _do, isn’t it? Finish this? Once he’s dead, I’ll_ have _to forget him. No point in remembering, then_ …

 

Kris glanced toward Katy, who gave him an encouraging, secretive smile over the rim of her drink, behind Adam’s back. He knew she was right, knew what he had to do, but the thought made him feel sick, and Adam was still smiling at him with that enticing, mischievous sparkle in his eyes, and the taste of his blood was still on Kris’s tongue, too recent to even be called a memory, and all of a sudden all Kris knew was that he just couldn’t _stand_ Katy’s watchful, knowing eyes, her grim expectations, at the moment. Without really thinking about it, just knowing that he wanted to get _away_ … but not necessarily from _Adam_ … Kris took Adam’s hand in his and led him out toward the dance floor without another word.

 

Just as they reached the part of the dance floor nearest to the bar – and farthest from Katy – the lights dimmed, and the music took a dark, moody shift to something slow and sultry and a little on the eerie side – but unfortunately, just quiet enough to allow for conversation without shouting.

 

When Kris reluctantly turned to face Adam again, there was an open smirk of satisfaction on his lips, his eyes sparkling with mirth. “So, I take it, it was good for you, too, then?”

 

Kris frowned, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. “What was?”

 

_He couldn’t possibly remember… I took those memories from him… should have taken the memory of my face as well, don’t know what I was thinking…_

 

“You tell me.” Adam shrugged, sidling in closer to Kris, his large, strong hands firm and claiming on Kris’s hips. “Whatever we did. I – I don’t really remember much about last night,” he confessed, glancing down for a moment before meeting Kris’s eyes again, his gaze intent and arresting. “Except you,” he amended softly. “I… _definitely_ remember _you_.”

 

There was a hunger in Adam’s eyes to rival his own, and Kris swallowed slowly, his mouth dry and thirsty, craving the sweet heat he could still taste on his tongue. He shook his head, forcing himself to hold Adam’s gaze as he replied in what he could only hope was a bored, disinterested tone.

 

“Well, I don’t remember you. Sorry. I danced with a _lot_ of guys last night…”

 

“See, that’s the thing,” Adam replied, his voice strangely quiet and calm. “I didn’t. I’m… pretty sure there was _just_ you. Only, I can’t remember what happened after the dancing – can’t remember _anything_ until I woke up on my kitchen floor, with no hangover, because you know… I didn’t actually _drink_ more than half a glass… but a couple of _holes_ in my neck that my own fucking _doctor_ described as a vampire bite…”

 

Kris froze, staring at Adam in disbelief. “What? That – that’s not true. There’s no such thing as…”

 

“ _Duh_.” Adam’s expression was a strange combination of tolerance and impatience as he rolled his eyes and sighed. “Of course there isn’t. But that’s what it looked like, and of course that’s not the _actual_ explanation, and you’re the _only_ person I spent any time with last night, so the way I see it – I’m pretty sure you must have _some_ idea what _did_ happen to me…”

 

This was the last direction in which Kris had expected this conversation to go. Adam was far too close to the truth, far closer than he should have been after Kris had wiped the worst of his memories of the night before from his mind. The completely coincidental comments Adam’s doctor had made were unsettlingly close for comfort. Kris reached down and placed his hands on Adam’s wrists, pushing his hands away and taking a step back.

 

“Look… I’m sorry, I can’t help you,” he said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

 

He knew Katy wasn’t going to like it, but he just needed to get away. He started to walk past Adam toward the exit; Katy would catch up… if she wanted to. Or not. She was on the hunt tonight, herself, and might not be home until close to daybreak.

 

 _And she’ll actually_ finish _the guy she chooses, like she’s supposed to, and won’t get into a situation like this, because she’s not an absolute sentimental_ fool…

 

Before Kris could get more than a couple of steps, however, Adam caught his arm, spinning him back around with unexpected force. When Kris looked up at him, startled, there was anger and accusation gleaming in Adam’s eyes.

 

“See, I don’t think that’s exactly true,” Adam stated, raising his voice as the music began to pick up, jerking Kris closer to him and catching his other arm in a grip that was just tight enough to be a little bit painful. “I think you know a _lot_ more than you’re telling me!”

 

Kris held Adam’s gaze, moving in close again and focusing all of his intent on Adam, his voice low and warning. “I think you want to _take your hands off me_.”

 

Immediately Adam let go of Kris, taking a step back, blinking with confusion. “I – I didn’t mean to do that,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m sorry…” He looked up at Kris with bewilderment. “I – what the fuck is _wrong_ with me?”

 

Kris’s heart sank as he watched Adam closely, and realized that this was going to be – _had_ to be – the last time he took in those sweet, impossibly blue eyes, the exquisite face that could be both impossibly innocent and filthily seductive in the exact same expression. This was only getting worse, the more he allowed it to continue.

 

As much as he hated to admit it, Katy was right. Adam wasn’t going to let this go, and every moment he was alive was another moment in which Kris’s entire family was in danger.

 

Ending it was the only way.

 

“Nothing,” he replied, reaching out and taking Adam’s hand gently, tugging him closer and rising up on his toes to speak directly into Adam’s ear. “Nothing is wrong with you, Adam. I – I’d like to talk to you. To – give you the answers you’re seeking. Come with me, all right? Let’s go somewhere quiet where we can talk.”

 

Adam nodded slowly. “Yes.”

 

“Come out into the alley with me… there’s a side door…”

 

“Yes,” Adam agreed, his voice flat, his eyes hazy with Kris’s influence. “I want to go with you…”

 

They were just at the end of the bar, the exit door in sight, when everything went to hell.

 

“Hey! Get your fucking hands _off_ him!”

 

A forceful shove caught Kris off guard, sending him stumbling away from Adam and into the bar, where he caught himself on one hand – which, unfortunately came right down on someone’s glass, which toppled over, spilling the drink everywhere and crushed beneath Kris’s palm as he grasped at the countertop for support. He hissed in pain, drawing up his hand to see that it was bleeding from the broken glass.

 

“Dude. What is your _problem_?” Kris demanded of the tiny brunet who was now standing in front of Adam, snapping his fingers in Adam’s face, a worried frown on his lips. “We were just dancing…”

 

“Yeah, you were dancing him right out the door,” the newcomer declared. “Adam – Adam, what’s the matter with you? Look at me!”

 

Adam obeyed, but his voice was a little slurred, his eyes still distant and hazy. “We were just dancing,” he echoed, his words audible as the current song came to an end.

 

“Like fuck you were,” Adam’s self-appointed bodyguard retorted, turning toward Kris with a glare. “What the fuck did you give him? Why is he acting like this?” Suddenly, the stranger’s eyes grew wide, and he took a step closer to Kris, unintentionally – probably – hemming him in against the bar. “Wait – _you’re_ the guy, aren’t you? The one he told me about – the only fucking thing he remembers about last night, when he was somehow mysteriously roofied and doesn’t know how… and now you’ve done it again. Just _look_ at him!”

 

“I-I didn’t… he’s not drugged, he’s just…”

 

“Just _what_?” the guy demanded, getting up into Kris’s space, furiously protective. “ _What._ The _fuck_. Did you _do_?”

 

Kris couldn’t seem to find a logical explanation, couldn’t focus enough to influence the thoughts and memories of Adam’s friend. He felt trapped, guilty, flustered, and couldn’t _think_ clearly enough to get himself out of this mess. Panic made his stomach lurch as Adam’s friend stepped back a little, scanning the crowd, and called out, “Security! We need fucking security over here, _right the fuck now_!”

 

He didn’t see her approach, didn’t even know she was aware of the escalating drama playing out around him, but all at once, Katy was at Kris’s side. “Come on,” she hissed, catching his arm and pulling him toward the exit, their pace just slightly more than what was humanly possible. “We have to get out of here, _now_.”

 

She led him through the crowd, using it to their advantage, weaving in and out with inhuman agility and speed, until they finally found the exit door. As they reached the street and the cool night air hit him in the face, Kris pulled up short, tugging against her strong grip. “They’ll remember all of that. We have to do something, make them forget, or…”

 

“No, it’s too conspicuous. Are you going to make the security guards forget, too, when they come over there and realize that suddenly, miraculously, the guys complaining don’t remember what they’re complaining about? All those people in there _saw_ us, Kris!”

 

“I know… I-I’m sorry.” Kris shook his head, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes for a moment and breathing in a shaky breath. “What the hell is wrong with me?”

 

“I don’t know, Kris,” Katy snapped, “but we have to keep moving.” She tugged on his hand, jerking him a little further down the street before darting into a side alley and out of sight. “What you should have done was take that boy, I don’t know, _here_ , maybe? And _finish him off_! But that’s not even an _option_ now, because fifty people saw you talking to him in there, saw you fighting with his friend, and if _anything_ happens to that boy in the next week or so, there’s a dozen witnesses that will describe you and _identify_ you, and you and the rest of us are all in _big fucking danger_ because you had to get soft and let the boy go, when you should have killed him last night!”

 

“I’m _sorry_ , okay?” Kris exploded in frustration as they came out the other end of the alley on another street, and Katy led him swiftly down it a block or so to a second alley. “That’s what I was _trying_ to do! How was I supposed to know he wasn’t alone tonight? I don’t know what I can do about it _now_. I’m _sorry_.”

 

Katy stopped for a moment, spinning around to face him, her eyes smoldering with anger, yet touched with a shade of genuine worry. “Yeah, well,” she said softly, her voice dark and tinged with dread. “I hope this is as sorry as you have to get before this is all over.”

 

And with those foreboding words, she turned and stalked away, leaving Kris to follow miserably in her wake.

 

*********************************************

 

“Adam! Adam, snap the fuck out of it!” Brad shook Adam by the shoulders slightly, trying to establish eye contact, but Adam seemed dazed, out of it, not even comprehending that Brad was there. “ _Adam_!”

 

“What happened?” The security guard showed up, too late of course, at Brad’s side. He took one look at Adam before concluding, “Someone drugged him? Where’s the guy who did it?”

 

“He took off,” Brad sighed. “Little guy, my height, dark hair, brown eyes, pretty as fuck, but a little fucking _psycho_. He was about to take my friend off somewhere and do who knows _what_ to him, and Adam, come on and fucking _look_ at me!”

 

Finally, _finally_ , Adam’s gaze shifted from the spot where he’d last seen Kris, and he blinked slowly in confusion as he gradually focused on his friend. “Brad?”

 

“Yes.” Brad could have wept with relief, momentarily resting his head against Adam’s shoulder before looking up with an encouraging nod and a smile. “Yes, Adam. I’m right here. You’re okay. That guy, though – the one you remembered – he was here, and he almost took you _again_ , and… are you okay?”

 

“I – I feel funny,” Adam said, his words still slow and uncertain, as he frowned and raised his hands to cover his face for a moment. “I think I need… some air…”

 

“We’ll get you some,” Brad promised. “Just a second, okay? Don’t move. Don’t go outside, he’s out there somewhere. I’m gonna pay our tab and then I’m gonna take you home, okay? Stay _right here_ , Adam.”

 

**********************************************

 

In a way, it felt like slowly surfacing from underwater. Slowly, so slowly that he almost didn’t register the change, the sights and sounds around Adam began to regain their clarity, and he became aware of where he was again. Once again, the mystery man from the night before had vanished, leaving him with more questions now than he’d had before.

 

Except – this time, he could _remember_.

 

He frowned, the mental image of Kris’s dark eyes focusing in on his, of the intensity he’d felt when Kris had moved in close and… _suggested_ that Adam come with him, out of the club and into the deserted alley behind it, filling his mind. Some tiny part of his brain had realized that, in light of the events of the previous night, that was a _really fucking bad idea_. But somehow, he’d felt as if there was nothing else for him to do. Kris wanted him to go with him, and so _he_ wanted to go – as simple as that.

 

He knew better; he’d played this game with guys in clubs for years, and was always safe and careful and never placed himself in situations that he wouldn’t be able to get himself out of if he needed to.

 

And yet, he’d almost walked out of the club with a stranger that had probably done something to him against his will the night before.

 

 _Or… not against my will, exactly… whatever mind trick that was, however he made me just almost leave with him… that’s what happened last night, too…_ Adam realized. _That’s why there weren’t any drugs in my system, why I didn’t have a hangover this morning… I don’t know how he did it, but he made me actually_ want _to leave with him…_

 

Adam frowned, struggling to remember the night before, and once again finding it impossible. A new, unsettling possibility occurred to him, and he leaned against the bar for support.

 

 _He couldn’t have… but… maybe he did… is it possible that he’s the reason I can’t remember what happened, too? Could he have somehow…_ made _me forget?_

 

Adam stared down at the bar, ignoring the bartender who offered to get him something, and then just as swiftly moved on to his next potential customer when Adam did not respond. Adam was distracted, his gaze drawn by the pieces of shattered glass and liquid that lay in the spot where Kris had been just moments earlier. The bar was busy, many patrons clamoring for their next drinks, and the bartender hadn’t gotten around to cleaning up the mess yet.

 

Mingled with the clear liquid that glittered on the broken glass was a faint shimmer of red, and Adam found his eyes drawn to it, focusing on it with a strange sensation of longing and fascination. It was swirling, iridescent, strangely beautiful… and before he knew what he was doing, Adam had reached out and brushed a bit of the liquid onto his fingertips – just before the bartender came back, sweeping the debris out of the way with a damp cloth.

 

“Dude, what are you doing?” he protested in alarm. “That’s broken glass!”

 

Brad returned at that moment, giving Adam and the bartender a questioning look.

 

“You’d better get your buddy home before he hurts himself!” the bartender declared.

 

Brad just nodded, putting an arm around Adam’s waist and leading him toward the door. Adam just stared at his own fingertips in front of him, mesmerized by the wet gleam of red on them. Brad was talking quietly, though his tone was agitated – but Adam wasn’t registering a word of it. Brad stepped away from him for just a moment to hail a cab, and Adam stood there, staring, his mind seeming to slip back a little into the haze Kris had left him with.

 

He wasn’t sure why he did it, could never explain it later, except to say that somehow, on some instinctive level, Kris’s blood _called_ to him, enticing him with the same hypnotic power Kris’s voice and eyes had held. Without thinking or considering why, Adam raised his fingers to his mouth and sucked the red liquid from them.

 

An electric sensation flowed through him at the taste of it – bitter and sweet at the same time, warm and tingling and _awakening_ his mind with a sharpness and clarity that left the haze that had been hovering around him shattered, his senses keenly aware of the night breeze, the scents, both enticing and revolting, of the various restaurants and clubs on the block where they stood, the brightly colored lights and Brad’s soothing, concerned voice as he ushered Adam into the cab he’d managed to procure.

 

Brad gave the cabbie their address, and Adam did not protest… but he found himself staring out the window in the opposite direction, toward the hills in the distance where somehow, inexplicably, he knew that Kris had gone. Just as clearly, he knew that Brad would not want to let him go anywhere but home right now, and so the best thing for it was just to go along with his friend, to go into his room and lie down in his bed and let Brad be reassured that he was safe.

 

Once he was certain that Brad was asleep, however, Adam rose from his bed, padding through the house with silent footsteps, leaving the keys in their dish by the door and slipping out into the night. Kris’s blood sang in his veins, drawing him, and somehow, Adam knew that he wouldn’t be needing the keys to this apartment any time soon.

 

He didn’t know why, or how, or what would happen when he reached his destination – only that he had to _go to Kris –_ and something within him suddenly, inexplicably knew the way.


End file.
